Would a cabover be a first good truck? Would my plan be economical?

Sure, you save on payment, but spend on restoring an old truck. Plan on about $80k by the time you finish repairing it (maybe more if you get to pay for towing of your oversized load when your old cabover breaks down)

 

No, you may not have a payment but you'll have 100 mechanical problems you can't get parts for.

 

If your wanting to live in a truck .. I don't belive a Cabover would be a choice for me
I can think of a dozen good reasons why
I basicaly lived in a truck for 5 years and it was a Conventional with a 63" sleeper .. there was times I wounder .. WTF I was doing
I could not Imagine trying to do that in a cabover

 

If you’re not extremely crafty with an already extensive tool collection i wouldn’t even consider an older cabover. #1 and above every thing then old mechanical motors there is no one left really to work on em. I mean they are around but hard to find and move slow. What you think is easier just isn’t the guys don’t see them every day and are not familiar..

It never stop’s something is ####ed up constantly just how it is. Some of the older differentials and suspensions are tough to get parts for. Most them old trucks have sat which creates trouble.

Big trucks big bucks new or old. Payments or repairs or payments and repairs your just gonna make a living nobody gets rich

 

When you try to get your oil changed at a truck stop. The young tech tries to open(tilt) your cab by putting one foot on the bumper and pulls on the handle below the windshield. You bust a gut laughing soo hard and no one else in the shop understands why your laughing.
That's when you know you have an old truck.

Pre emissions truck yes. Cabover not so much. Not enough room. As mentioned pre ECM motors are hard to get parts for. You might be able to source when home and you have time. On the road, in a hurry, prices go up.
Good luck.

 

Well, he hasn't really defined "old"..

To him, that could be a '90's model FLB, 362, K100.. Most them parts are more or less accessible..

Living in it full time with no home 20.?
Eff that..

 

Freightliner Argosy

 

Yeah or a bus International with a Series 60 would be fine. Do a cutoff from a Freightshaker Air Liner for easy parts sourcing and a frame stretch.

 

1973 K100 / no power steering.
1975 Cabover Freightliner / air assist steering.
1976 352 Peterbilt Patriot “Bicentennial”
1978 K100C Aerodyne
1978-79 IH 4070B
1980 K100
1981 Freightliner
1983 362 Peterbilt
1983 Cabover Freightliner
1987 K100E
1988 K100E

From my personal experience, I’d much rather try to live in the Aerodyne Cabover than any other that I’ve driven.

Don’t know anything about the newer stuff….